“Satan is the character that has defined the modern anti-hero. The Byronic hero is Milton’s Satan, the Brontë sisters, Rochester, Heathcliff, that’s Milton’s Satan, translated into a different form.” (Peter Darbyshire)

At the heart of Ellis’ exploration is the belief that reading books can show us how to live. This is a belief I share passionately. I could see, reading “How to Be a Heroine,” that Ellis and I have sought different answers through books. My preoccupation has been more with deepening my capacity for empathy, which seems to come quite naturally to Ellis. She and I also have different taste in books. From the 19th century, I prefer Dickens and Trollope to the Brontës because I must have humor. “Jane Eyre” was a bit overwrought for my liking, and I never have understood the appeal of Heathcliff from “Wuthering Heights.” (Sally Allen)

Lima Ohio features a high school student whose favourite book is Wuthering Heights. Rochester is the literary hunk of Feburary in Book Perfume.